The Treasure of Grandchildren

It was a Friday evening, and we were more than excited while waiting for our two grandchildren to come. Katie, 18, just graduated from high school; and Caleb, 16, will be a junior this fall. How brave of them to take a 10-hour trip with our country home as their destination. They were a little late, and we were afraid that if they didn't arrive soon, they might get lost in the dark on these country roads and without cell-phone coverage. How relieved we were when in they drove with smiling faces!

The kids stayed five full days, and it was a lot of fun having young people around. Their parents have trained them to be industrious, and gave them instructions to help us. Caleb loves to work with wood, so he was a great help as he and his grandpa built and repaired doors for the outbuildings.

The first thing they did was to repair one of the loft doors that had fallen off the barn. Later, Katie painted it and got the primer on the other one. We've been wanting to do that since we painted the barn last fall, and now it won't take Larry long to finish.

Then the guys built these dutch doors for the front of the barn. Didn't they do a great job?! They are just what I wished for. The doctor told me I couldn't paint the barn, but he didn't say anything about the barn doors, so I plan to slowly work on them. Shh! Don't scold!

Remember the old granary that we tore down? We had salvaged a lot of the wood to fix up the barn, and especially the old chicken house. It continues to serve us as we saved the large, sliding doors. The guys cut about two inches off the bottom, which was the rotten part, and they fit perfectly on the above building that we call the loft. We've been wanting to do these things for a long time, so we are really feeling happy about it.

Katie helped me as I needed her, but she also primed and painted much of the loft. I felt bad that she worked alone while the guys had each other, but she listened to books on her CD player and didn't mind.

The five days went far too quickly for Larry & me! We won't forget the great time we had working, playing games, telling jokes and bonding. It rained a little during the night before they left, so we led them safely out onto the highway, and then we went on into town. When we came back to the farmhouse a couple hours later, I felt the emptiness and heard my mother's words, "It is so quiet after you leave."

It wasn't quiet for long, though, as our oldest son, Perry, and his new love arrived that very evening! I will tell you about them in our next blog, and I can hardly wait!

What good-looking kids! (hee hee) They were very happy to come and visit you, as was I. Caleb said it wasn't even work because he was working with wood. I, too, thought of what Grandma always said when we left. So glad you all can have those memories. Wish I could have been there, too.

NebraskaDave

8/9/2014 9:03:29 AM

Mary, sounds like you had a great time of memory building with your grandchildren. Life has a way of changing suddenly. I have mentioned many times that Bradley, my grandson, was living with me. After five years of having the energetic guy in the house and watching him grow up into a great young man, the decision was made to have him now live with his Dad in Texas. Talk about quiet in the house. Scary quiet. I can even find the TV remote now. Imagine that it's right where I left it. So another chapter in his life and mine begins. I have to wonder where it will take both of us on this journey through life. *****
Have a great day on the homestead/farm.

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